It was because they saw it.
The large group of zombies, brimming with menace, suddenly drew weapons from behind—
Kitchen knives, cleavers, clubs, and even crossbows, the cold weapons of ranged combat!
What was happening!?
Had the world truly changed!?
Zombies... now wielding weapons!?
A thousand bewildered thoughts raced through their minds.
Captain Wang Defa cursed aloud:
"What the hell!?"
However,
There was no time to react.
The moment the search team moved,
The zombies raised their weapons in unison, and the crossbows were already aimed at Wang Defa and his team.
For a brief moment, Wang Defa and the others entertained a fleeting hope that these clumsy zombies might not be able to handle such weapons.
They still had a slim chance of survival.
But unfortunately—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The sound of arrows slicing through the air rang out.
The zombies holding crossbows pulled the triggers, releasing a barrage of arrows,
which whistled sharply toward the search team.
"Don't just stand there! Move!"
Wang Defa shouted, already activating his underdeveloped abilities. He stomped his foot, and a thick wall of stone rose from the ground, blocking the incoming arrows.
Vice-Captain Ma Cheng, quick to react, used his speed-enhancing abilities, narrowly dodging each arrow by a hair's breadth.
But Xu Shuai, Liu Chen, and Zhang Cong—the three ordinary members—lacked the power and luck.
They were directly exposed to the zombies' attack, and there was no escape.
The arrows pierced their bodies, and they fell to the ground, screaming in agony as their blood spilled and their struggles gradually ceased.
"Xu Shuai! Liu Chen! Zhang Cong!"
The Captain and Vice-Captain turned to see their fallen comrades, and their hearts broke as they mourned aloud.
Yet, their resolve to break through the horde grew stronger.
With the defensive power of Wang Defa's earth-based abilities and Ma Cheng's speed-based skills, they fought fiercely against the many zombies wielding knives, swords, and crossbows, managing to hold their own for a time, pushing toward a potential escape.
"We're almost out!"
Wang Defa, having been slashed on his back, felt a glimmer of hope as Ma Cheng, equally tense and excited, urged him onward.
Just as they were about to make the final dash out of the encirclement,
Boom! Boom!
Two imposing figures suddenly descended from above.
Like towering walls, they blocked their path.
"First-tier zombies? And two of them!"
The two were stunned once again.
Wang Defa sighed:
"No wonder this neighborhood feels so strange. Turns out there are two first-tier zombies here, ruling over the place. The shelter seriously underestimated the danger of this area."
"At this point, we have no choice but to fight!"
Ma Cheng, determined to face death without fear, resolved to take at least one down with him.
But in the eyes of Tyrant and Blade Tyrant,
Their attempts were nothing more than futile struggles before their inevitable death.
"You take one, I'll take the other. Let's end this swiftly."
Blade Tyrant spoke with detached calm.
"Agreed!"
Tyrant, eager for action, immediately responded, clenching his fists and moving toward Captain Wang Defa.
He grinned wickedly:
"Let me taste what an Evolver is like!"
"You damn beast, come and try!"
Despite knowing the vast difference in power, Wang Defa, humiliated by a zombie as simple-minded as Tyrant, boldly struck out.
His abilities, based on earth, allowed the ground itself to become his weapon.
He slammed his palms to the earth.
Stone spheres rose from the ground, crashing toward Tyrant, the towering three-meter zombie.
But the attack posed no threat whatsoever.
Tyrant casually waved his hand, and the stone spheres shattered with ease. He then charged forward, like a tank, slamming toward Wang Defa.
"Don't let him get close!"
Wang Defa's heart raced with alarm, realizing that if Tyrant reached him, he wouldn't be able to withstand even a few blows.
Desperately, he used his abilities, causing earth spikes to shoot up and stone walls to rise around him,
But they were futile.
The very methods that had impressed his team were utterly ineffective against Tyrant.
The Aura of Domination enveloped Tyrant's form.
With a simple wave or collision, the barriers crumbled without resistance, offering no protection whatsoever.
Wang Defa's face turned pale.
Trying to escape,
He looked behind, only to find that the paths for evasion had already been blocked by a horde of zombies armed with knives and swords.
There was no way out—he was trapped, utterly cornered.
"Die!"
Tyrant approached, his fists clenched, muscles bulging as he prepared to deliver a powerful punch, enveloped in a deadly aura.
"Ahhh!"
Wang Defa screamed as his skull shattered under the impact, his chest collapsing, internal organs torn apart.
There was no hope for survival—he was dead on the spot.
Thud.
His body collapsed to the ground.
Tyrant, with his enormous fist, reached into Wang Defa's chest and pulled out a translucent, diamond-shaped crystal—the energy crystal unique to Evolvers—handling it carefully, intending to present it to his master, Zhang Yang.
The scene of Wang Defa's death was witnessed by the others locked in combat.
Blade Tyrant, unsurprised,
Meanwhile, the last surviving member of the search team, Vice-Captain Ma Cheng, was filled with despair, his body teetering on the brink of collapse, clinging only to his instinct for survival.
But facing the relentless and precise attacks from Blade Tyrant,
He was gradually losing ground.
The battlefield was surrounded by zombies, leaving no room for maneuver, and the terrain was too narrow to allow him to fully utilize his speed-based abilities.
All he could do was dodge, narrowly avoiding Blade Tyrant's attacks.
However,
Endurance has its limits.
Ma Cheng's intense dodging began to take its toll.
Within a few rounds, he was gasping for breath, his movements slowing.
In contrast, Blade Tyrant had the advantage of strength, and remained relaxed, his heavy broadsword wielded with lethal precision.
It was clear—
From the very start, this battle had no chance of turning in Ma Cheng's favor.
The outcome was inevitable.
After another evasive maneuver, Ma Cheng managed to avoid an attack from Blade Tyrant, but his energy was nearly exhausted, and he had to pause for a brief moment to catch his breath.
Little did he know, this was exactly what Blade Tyrant had been waiting for.
The moment Ma Cheng exposed a flaw,
"Slash!"
Blade Tyrant, skilled in martial arts even after becoming a zombie, didn't forget his deadly swordsmanship.
The great broadsword swung in a flash.
The blade cut through the air.
In an instant, Ma Cheng's legs were severed!
"Ahhhh!"
A scream of agony echoed through the air.
Lacking legs, Ma Cheng's speed-based powers became useless, and he could no longer flee. He became prey, ready to be slaughtered by Blade Tyrant.